and make use
of him. For most purposes three horses are more "handy" than one
elephant. The elephant is caught when he is already grown up, and then
trained. It is as a matter of economy that he is not bred in
confinement, and not because there is any insuperable difficulty in
the matter. Occasionally elephants have bred in menageries.

There is no doubt that the African elephant at the present day grows
to a larger size than the Indian, though it was the opinion of the
Romans of the Empire that the Indian elephant was the more powerful,
courageous, and intelligent of the two. It seems next to impossible to
acquire at the present day either specimens or trustworthy records of
the largest Indian elephants. About 10 ft. 6 ins. at the shoulder
seems to be the maximum, though they are dressed up by their native
owners with platforms and coverings to make them look bigger. In India
the skin of domesticated individuals is polished and carefully
stained, like an old boot, by the assiduity of their guardians, so
that a museum specimen of exceptional size, fit for exhibition and
study, cannot be obtained. On the other hand, the African elephant not
unfrequently exceeds a height of 11 ft. at the shoulder. With some
trouble I obtained one exceeding this measurement direct from East
Africa for the Natural History Museum, where it now stands. It seems
highly probable that this species occasionally exceeds 12 ft. in
height. On the ground, between the great African elephant's fore and
hind legs, in the museum, I placed a stuffed specimen of the smallest
terrestrial mammal--the pigmy shrew-mouse. It is worth while thus
calling to mind that the little animal has practically every separate
bone, muscle, blood-vessel, nerve, and other structure present in the
huge monster compared with it--is, in fact, built closely upon the
same plan, and yet is so much smaller that it is impossible to measure
one by the other. The mouse is only about one fifth the length of the
elephant's eye. According to ancient Oriental fable, the mouse and the
dragon were the only two animals of which the elephant was afraid.

The African elephant has much larger tusks relatively to his size than
the Indian, and both males and females have them, whereas the Indian
female has none. A very fine Indian elephant's tusk weighs from 75 lb.
to 80 lb. The record for an African elephant's tusk was (according to
standard books) 180 lb. But I obtained ten years ago for the mu